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Dryad

Tropical montane forest in South Asia: Composition, structure and dieback in relation to soils and topography

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Abstract

We evaluated the composition, structure and dieback of a montane forest in relation to soils and physiography of an important biogeographic region that has been sparsely studied. Our objectives were to: 1. Describe the forest composition and structure; 2. Assess the current extent of dieback; and 3. Relate tree composition, structure, and dieback proneness to edaphic and physiographic measures. We enumerated all live and dead standing plants ≥ 3 cm diameter at breast height (DBH), in thirty 20×15 m2 over story plots. We measured all regeneration < 1m height in subplots, sampled soils and measures of physiography, and visually rated the proportion of crown die-back, and recorded standing dead trees.